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Andrew Garfield's Shocking Weight Loss for Silence: ''It's Not Fun''

Find out what else the actor did for his work in Martin Scorsese's new drama

By Marc Malkin Dec 21, 2016 1:00 PMTags
Watch: Andrew Garfield's Shocking Transformation

Andrew Garfield was hungry to work with Martin Scorsese.

The actor dropped 40 pounds to star in the legendary director's new drama Silence (in select theaters on Dec. 23). Garfield and Adam Driver costar as 17th-century Jesuit priests who travel to Japan looking for their mentor (Liam Neeson).

While you can see the weight loss in Garfield's face, it's a brief shirtless scene that is the most jarring. (Driver also appears shockingly thin.)

"It's not fun," Garfield tells me of shedding the pounds. "But ultimately [it's] very very satisfying and fulfilling. You learn a lot of information from emptying out."

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Andrew Garfield Can't Stop Laughing
Paramount Pictures

He wants audiences to be startled at the sight of his emaciated frame. "I think it has to be," Garfield said. "It's the truth of what these guys would have gone through."

Garfield and Driver also went on a silent retreat in Wales to prepare for their roles.

"It's a wonderful thing," Garfield said. "Just after about three days everything shifts. Your central nervous system just kind of settles down and it becomes normal."

He added, "You go into all these meditation and prayer rooms and the quiet in there is the loudest think you've ever f--king heard. It's crazy. You literally go in there and your ears start ringing. it's the purest silence that you could know. I've done a few of these things in the past on my personal time. I love all this spiritual exploration stuff. I'm fascinated by it."

Watch: Andrew Garfield Wants to Meet New "Spider-Man" Tom Holland

Meanwhile, I let Garfield know that new Spider-Man star Tom Holland told E! News that he would love to talk to him and Tobey Maguire about how their lives changed after playing the iconic superhero.

"I think it's going to be different for everybody," Garfield said. "He seems like he's in a really good place with it...He seems like he's having a blast and he's in a really good situation with the people he's working with. I'm not concerned for him. But I'm well up for chatting with him. I think he's so talented and I think he's got a really awesome ride ahead of him."